Programs

Support for Vulnerable Seniors in Toronto’s Downtown Core

College View Supportive Housing Services provides assisted living services to an ethno-culturally diverse group of 65 older adults and seniors living in a large Toronto Community Housing Corporation apartment building in downtown Toronto. A third of College View clients are Chinese. The program serves seniors with complex challenges including mental illness, addiction, chronic physical health issues, social isolation, cultural dislocation, abuse and abandonment.

In keeping with LOFT’s overall goal of responding to the needs of individual clients, our services have been adapted to meet these culturally specific needs. The College View program ensures there are Cantonese, Mandarin and English-speaking staff on duty at all times, and provides all its services in all three languages.

When the College View program opened in 1999, it represented a signification innovation in services to at-risk seniors. Unable to obtain any new housing to serve this client group, LOFT determined to go where seniors in need were already living. College View Apartments is a large community housing seniors apartment building owned and operated by Toronto Community Housing Corporation. LOFT and TCHC have a formal partnership in which TCHC provides affordable housing and LOFT provides the services.

Our goal is to provide support with the activities of daily living and to help residents connect with community resources and one another, enabling them to maintain their independence and dignity, and to age in place.

Services Available at College View
We provide 24-hour on-site staffing and a range of services from personal care and light housekeeping to crisis and emergency intervention. Specialized Psychogeriatric Case Management services assist clients in navigating the health care and social services systems, ensuring they have access to all needed services.

Support services also include assistance with activities of daily living including light housekeeping, personal hygiene and medication management, as well as escorts to appointments.

Active Social Program
Social and recreational activities with the goal of helping seniors stay healthy and active, connect with their community and, most importantly connect with and build mutually supportive relationships with each other.

This program includes regular outings and get-togethers, weekly coffee hours, monthly birthday parties, the opportunity to participate in the LOFT Seniors Bowling League and annual events like the Adopt-A-Senior Holiday Party every December. Certainly the highlight of the year at College View is the annual Chinese New Year Celebration, sponsored by the Chinese Tenants Association where LOFT clients and other building residents enjoy and afternoon of traditional Chinese food and entertainment.